1. The Joint Committee has asked for a Memorandum
explaining the reasons for the substantial increases in the fees
specified as items 1 (registration fee), 2(i) (retention fee)
and 5 (temporary registration fee) in the Table of Fees.

2. Following a review of the Royal College of Veterinary
Surgeons' reserves in 2000 the Treasurer of the RCVS concluded
that they were too low to provide the College with adequate protection
against risks which might arise in the future. In previous years
a more optimistic view has been taken of the College's finances
with fee increases below the rate of inflation, and with no increase
in some years. This has meant that there have been only small
surpluses of income over expenditure available to add to the reserves.

3. The College also foresees increased pressure on
resources as a result of:

complaints against veterinary surgeons increasing
requiring thorough investigation in order to maintain public confidence;

more cases will be brought before the Disciplinary
Committee. These are likely to be robustly defended with assistance
from the Veterinary Defence Society, and the possibility of cases
going to appeal. Should the plaintiff be successful costs may
be awarded against the College;

decisions by the College increasingly may be
subject to judicial review. The EU Recognition Directive now provides
for recognition of third country qualifications and specifically
provides for recourse to the courts, which is likely to be by
judicial review;

the Government proposes to introduce changes
to the Veterinary Surgeons Act. This will require an input from
the RCVS, as will reviews of issues of relevance to the College,
such as the OFT reviews of medicines pricing and competition within
the professions;

the need for the College to be more open and
transparent with its members and the general public will require
the review of existing procedures, and devoting more resources
to improving communications.

4. The College must be in a position to respond to
all these issues, and cannot take the risk of being unable to
properly discharge its statutory responsibilities for lack of
resources. The future demand on resources cannot be precisely
quantified at this stage but it would be prudent for the College
to be prepared for the worst scenario.

5. Finally the College has taken the conscious decision
that the necessary increases in fees should be borne by those
members of the College who are still active in the profession.